A Harmless Prank
by SoDapper
Summary: Can some jokes be taken too far? And if they can, how far do you go to be forgiven? AU High School setting. Bubbline.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I'm thinking this will be a few chapters. Two or three. We'll see.**

**Edit: Just kidding! It'll be as long as it wants. **

It was _just _a harmless prank.

Well, actually, it was a dare. It was none other than Marceline Abadeer's precious twin brother who came up with the brilliant idea. And Marshall Lee knows his sister well. She _never_ backs down from a good dare. The others agreed and egged Marceline on. Mostly just Jake and Ash. But even LSP was up for seeing this dare in motion. She was hoping it would cause some drama amongst the friend group, something it had been lacking for the past couple of days. Finn was the only one against it the entire time.

"Marceline. Don't do it. Seriously." He insisted. He put on his most serious face, a rare sight.

"Okay. Finn doesn't want me to do it. Any more objections?" Marceline grinned. Oh, she was _more_ than willing to go ahead with it. She couldn't back down from a dangerous, juicy dare like this one.

"Marcy, you _know _Fionna and Cake would be against this too!" He pleaded. He then turned to his best friend. "And you, Jake, what about Lady? She'd kick your butt just for going along with this dare, let alone _triple dog daring_ Marcy. "

The three girls Finn mentioned, as well as Bubblegum were at a meeting for some committee they were in. It would take at least half the lunch hour for the girls to finish with the committee and meet their friends at their usual lunch table in the cafeteria of Ooo High School.

"Calm down, homie!" Jake said, putting his arm around Finn. "We all know you're just mad cause you've still got a thing for Bubblegum."

"What?!" The blonde boy blushed. "No way, man. Not anymore, I'm totally over her. It's just not right to do that to her, no matter who it is. It's just not right. Help me here, FP."

Flame Princess was at a personal struggle. The boy was too oblivious to know, but she had been crushing on Finn for months now. Why was he so attached to _her_ anyway? He keeps insisting he's over his crush, but then this kind of issue comes up and she doesn't know what to believe. Well, this dare may be just what Bonnibel Bubblegum deserves.

"I don't know, Finn." FP said, offering the boy a small smile. "I'm curious as to how this turns out. Aren't you?"

"No way." Finn moans, putting his head down for a few seconds. He lifts it back up. "Not you, too! Curious or not, people shouldn't play with the feelings of others." Flame Princess doesn't know whether to smile because of the irony, or smile because her hero is so righteous.

"Geez, _chump. _This ain't up for debate!" Ash speaks up. He puts a hand on Marshall's shoulder. "This guy here dared Marcy to do it. So she better do it. Am I right?" He looks to Marceline.

"Yeah, man. Not backing down from this now, or my name isn't Marceline the Vampire Queen!"

Fionna, Lady, and Cake hear a (mostly) collective cheer from their usual table as soon as they enter the cafeteria. As they make their way over there, their friends quiet down and shush each other.

"What was all that noise for, guys? Sounded like cheering." Cake says, setting her stuff down on the table.

"Uhhh…" Marceline tries to think. She looks over to Finn. "Finn! He uh…burped the ABC's! It was pretty amazing." The others nod in agreement. Fionna looks to her little brother. He seems off. Normally, he's receptive of such praise. But he just looks flustered.

"Marcy, Finn could _always_ burp the ABC's. Since he was 8."

"Yeah but this time he burped them _backwards!"_ Jake offers quickly.

"Well…I'm proud of you, bro!" Fionna genuinely beams with pride. Marceline, now feeling nervous, looks over to her.

"Hey um…where's Bonni?"

"Oh! Bubblegum will be here in a few minutes. She just needed to talk to the committee advisor." Lady says. After kissing her boyfriend, Jake, on the cheek, she and the other girls walk over to the line to grab some food.

"All right, chumps! Don't say anything to them. They can't know! Got that, Finn?" Ash threatens.

"Yeah," Marshall says, headlocking the younger boy, "better keep your mouth shut!"

The girls are just about coming back with trays of food when someone hisses to Marceline, "There she is! Go for it!" Before she knows it, she's on her feet. She stares at Bubblegum, who's making her way to the table. The pink haired girl makes eye contact for almost five seconds before breaking it by looking down at her feet instead. She looks up again. Marceline's eyes are glued to her. Something doesn't feel right.

"Hi, Bonni!" Marceline cheerfully greets her.

"Um. Hi…Marceline." Bubblegum feels it. This is odd. Marceline slowly steps closer to her. They're hardly a foot apart. "Can I…sit down?"

"Uh. Yeah! But I need to tell you something first." Marceline swallows. Now that she's up so close to Bonnibel, she can't remember why she ever agreed to do this.

"Okay…" Bubblegum says slowly, "What is it?"

"I…umm. I…" Marceline's voice cracks. She nevertheless puts her hands on the other girl's shoulders. "Listen, I…" She looks over to her brother and Ash, who signal for her to continue. Jake gives her a thumbs up. LSP is on the edge of her seat. She looks back at Bonni. The girl's cheeks are super flushed now. There's utter confusion in her bright, beautiful eyes. Marceline can feel her own face heat up. _Now or never. _ She swallows.

Bonnibel opens her mouth to speak, but her words are muffled by Marceline's mouth suddenly crashing into her own.

She finds herself resisting for a second, but then her eyes start to close gently. Marceline's lips are cool and soft. Although at first tense, her body loosens and feels like a puddle. Her heart soars. She wraps her arms around Marceline's waist.

Marceline didn't expect this. She didn't expect getting nervous. She didn't expect an open-mouth kiss. And she didn't expect Bonni to be so receptive, let alone return the kiss. Not that she's complaining. Bonni's arms wrap tightly around her. She pulls the other girl by the shoulders closer and deepens the kiss even further. Her tongue slips into the other girl's mouth. She tastes like bubblegum, but sweeter.

Both girls run out of breath before their mouths break apart. Panting, they both stare at each other in awe, still in each other's arms. Most of the cafeteria is now quiet. Bubblegum speaks first.

"Marcy, I…!" But she's cut off.

"Dude! Did you see that?!" Following that one statement from a far-away spectator, the rest of the cafeteria explodes in an excited buzz. Bubblegum realizes only right then that there is an audience present. The two girls break off eye contact with each other to look at their friend group.

Ash, Marshall Lee, and Jake are laughing their heads off, slapping each other high fives. Bubblegum catches Ash say something like, "So hot!"

Fionna , Cake, and Finn are in utter shock. Lady Rainicorn looks anxious, her hands clapped to her mouth. Flame Princess is also worried, almost guiltily.

"Ohhh my glob Melissa! Drama bomb! You will not _believe_ what happened," LSP is shouting into her phone.

The kiss had already left Bubblegum breathless. Her panting turns into ragged breaths. She swivels around. All eyes are on her. She can't escape them. She looks back to Marceline. The pale girl is speechless. Slowly, her mouth turns into a grin. A questionable grin, but a grin nevertheless. Angry, hot tears well up in Bubblegum's eyes.

"Y-you!" She hiccups. Her breath is still ragged. Her hand tenses up.

Marceline doesn't even see that hand as strikes her hard against her cheek. It's a stinging blow that sends her face flying to the left. The sound of the strike is loud enough to stop the chattering of most of the cafeteria, especially the chattering of the friend group.

"You're the worst." She says quietly, no stuttering this time.

Before Marceline can speak or even comprehend what just happened, Bonnibel turns and runs out without looking back.

Lady Rainicorn is the first to snap out of the trance. She hits her boyfriend over the head for his inconsideration, pushes past Marceline, and runs after her best friend to console her.

**A/N: Also, this was written while I couldn't sleep. So feel free to point out any grammatical errors or discontinuity.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey guys, here's the next update. I'd like to thank you for all the reviews. I'm trying to take things into consideration, but I already started writing and…well I hope everything flows. I'm not a writer. At all. I just love Bubbline. Hope you guys like this chapter!**

Silence follows as Lady rushes out the cafeteria, her long flowing dyed blond hair flowing out of sight. Even LSP is quiet. Jake rubs the back of his neck. He doesn't know whether he should follow her or not. He decides it's best he doesn't because Lady is probably trying to calm Bubblegum down and he's the last person she wants to see right now. He pulls his dog hat down to fully cover his bright orange hair. He sets his head down. He can't even look at his best friend in the eye.

Marceline puts a hand to her stinging cheek. She sighs, turns around, and sits back down in her seat. She doesn't look at her friends. Her mind replays the past five minutes and she just _can't_ understand why, for the life of her, she did it. _Because you wanted to. _ But Bonnibel Bubblegum's angry, tear-stained face is ingrained in her mind.

"Well," begins Finn slowly, "I hope you're happy now, Marceline the Vampire Queen."

For the first time in the past few years she's known him, this is the first time she's heard Finn sound so bitter and reprimanding. She looks up to face him. He looks so disappointed, as if to say "_I thought I knew you better than this." _ Fionna looks from her brother, to Marceline, to Marshall and Ash, and then back to Marceline. They're in on something.

"Wait…Marceline? Why'd you do it?" She asked her softly.

"I just…it was a _joke—"_

"Just a joke? Girl, you just broke the poor girl's heart!" Cake says.

"Yeah, Marcy. Bubblegum was pretty upset. It wasn't a joke for her." Fionna says, frowning disapprovingly.

"I—I didn't know this would happen! It was just a dare. Marshall—" Everyone turns to look at Marshall. "He just dared me to do it! And like, I dunno. I was in the moment. I _never_ back down from a dare—"

"Well congratulations." Finn says bitterly.

"Marshall Lee? I should've known it was you!" Fionna points to him. "Why'd you put her up to this?"

"Wha—? D-don't pin this on me! Me and Ash," he glances at Ash, "we were just joking around. We dared Marceline to kiss her. We didn't expect alllll that making out and hot and heavy stuff! We were just asking for a…peck on the lips or something. The other stuff was Marcy's own doing—"

"Th-that stuff just happened. I-I don't know how, it just happened." Marceline felt her cheeks heat up. She wouldn't have just settled for a peck on the lips, not with Bonnibel. The dare was just a pretense for doing what she always wanted to do—kiss the pink haired girl. It was just an excuse. They could've both laughed it off afterwards. It's just that the kissing became too much, way too intense and passionate. But it wasn't her fault. It was Marshall's. She points to Ash and Marshall and adds, "And anyway! **You**__guys were the ones laughing and high-fiving each other. You embarrassed her even more!"

"Well sooorryy," Ash drawls, "How else could we react to two hot chicks making out, genius? Marcy and Bonni, sittin' in a tree…" At this point, Marceline wonders why her friends keep this kid around. He's a psycho jerk, not to mention her ex-boyfriend. Not that they were serious or anything. It's probably because he's a friend of Marshall's. And he's okay when he's not being a butt.

"Can it, Ash! This is all your fault. I bet she hates me now and I—"

"Don't blame this on anyone else," Finn says calmly. Marceline looks down to her lap. "It was your decision, Marcy," He says. "You need to make this right." For a freshman, the kid sure has guts. Or righteousness, or whatever. His sense of morality. Flame Princess puts her hand over Finn's. She offers him a soft smile, which he returns.

"Finn's right," she agrees, "You need to apologize to Bubblegum."

"Y-yeah. You guys are right. I'll do it, first thing tomorrow—"

"No. Tonight. Knowing her, she probably went home. You should visit her and tell her." Finn insists.

"O-okay. Tonight. I'll apologize to her tonight." Marceline sighs.

"Good!" Finn says, finally smiling. He didn't like seeing Bubblegum cry. He was over her, of course. She had told him she didn't feel the same for him, and he had to accept that. But it wasn't right, what Marceline did to her. Still, Marceline really _was_ sorry. And she's his close friend too. More than anything, he wanted them to make up.

"Don't worry Marceline, I'm sure she'll…forgive you….eventually. Heh" Fionna says, nervously. Actually, she's not sure how she would feel if someone did that to her. "You'll probably have to give her some time."

"Thanks, Fi. I hope she does. "

"Oh!" a thought occurs to Fionna. She looks at Marshall. "You're lucky Gumball is away for the cooking competition. He would've killed you for doing this to Bubblegum. You know how protective he is over her." Gumball, Bubblegum's cousin, is probably the sweetest and most sensitive guys Fionna's ever met. The guy cooks, after all! But he's always been super protective of his cousin. And he's the only one who can handle Marshall Lee.

"What. Gumball's got nothing on me!" He pouts a little and crosses his arms. "And geez, I told you. I didn't mean for all this to happen."

"Oh sure. We'll see when Gumball comes back. Which should be tomorrow or maybe the next day…" Fionna says with a devilish smile. Marshall just shrugs it off.

O0o00o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 o0

_**Come up to meet you, **_

_**Tell you I'm sorry**_

_**You don't know how lovely you are.**_

_**I had to find you,**_

_**Tell you I need you **_

_**Tell you I set you apart…**_

_Ugh. How did the next part go again? _Marceline plucked away at her guitar strings and sang in a low voice. She was in her room, hoping to find inspiration. It was almost 5pm, and she needed to talk to Bubblegum soon. She heard her twin brother approach her door, probably coming back from band practice.

"Woah, Marcy? You still here? Shouldn't you…be somewhere?" Marshall poked his head through her door.

"Don't even, Marsh. This is all your fault in the first place. Why'd you have to go and make that stupid dare?" _And why did I have to go through with it? _Her twin pushes the door open an steps inside. He closes the door and leans on it.

"Uhh, listen. Well, you're probably gonna get mad. Which is fine, cause I deserve it and all…"

"What are you talking about?"

"Okay, I kind of listened to one of your journal song recordings and—"

"You **what**?!" Marceline yells, " You know those are **private. **Why were you going through my stuff? You butt! I should kill you for this." She grabs him by the collar.

"Okay, okay! You can kill me for this. After you listen to what I have to say." Marceline lets him go and slumps back onto her bed.

"This better be good."

"Okay…so I know how you feel about her, okay?" Marceline's eyes widen and her teeth clench. Marshall continues, "And I know you've always wanted to kiss her. Ever since you met her, right? Since last year?"

It _had_ been a year since they met. They were in Chemistry class together. Bonnibel was a genius at the subject. She always was good at math. The teacher had decided Marceline needed extra help, and so Bubblegum was assigned as her lab partner as well as tutor. Marceline looked forward to chemistry more and more, only so that she could be with Bonnibel. But she'd never show it. She'd always pretend to dread the class. Other than Chem, she looked forward to lunch. She had found that many of her own friends were friends with Bonni, too. _We had more in common than I thought. _

Marceline found herself falling harder and harder for the dork. Geeks like that were never her type. But Bonni was different. She always tried hard to enjoy the things Marceline enjoyed. She loved to hear her music. Marceline liked watching the other girl work with chemicals and formulas, getting excited by new discoveries. Bonni was everything she wasn't, her missing half. Her soulmate?

"Yeah. Since last year. As long as I can remember her face." _Some love at first sight crap? _

"Well see…you weren't getting anywhere." Marshall says, hesitating. Marceline bites her lip. _Of course I wasn't getting anywhere. Why would she love me back? She had grades and stuff to worry about. She wouldn't want to be with someone who cuts classes and gets a detention every other day. No. She deserves…better. _

"Of course not, Marsh. There's no way she'd feel the same." _But when I kissed her…she kissed me back. Maybe she was just lost in the moment. And she wanted to say something. Probably to tell me to get away. To tell me how disgusting that was. _

"You don't know that!"

"She wouldn't! Look at me. Look at us. We're…mismatched." She pauses, thinking. "So wait. You decided that since I wasn't making a move, you'd **dare** me to do it?"

"Yup. That was the idea. You could kiss Bubblegum with the false pretense that it was just a dare. And then—"

"And then she'd magically fall in love with me because I'm such a good kisser?!"

"Well…yeah. Pretty much." Marshall grins and scratches his cheek. "Actually, I think it sorta worked. She seemed into it, right?"

"Yeah! I mean…well maybe. I couldn't really tell." Marceline says, chewing her lip. "But it doesn't matter. **You** and that buttface Ash and the rest of the kids in the cafeteria embarrassed her half to death. She probably thought I did it just because of a stupid dare and…Ugh Marsh. This is a mess."

"Yeah, see. That's where I messed up. We were all caught in the moment. Everything was just so unexpected." He frowns. "But listen, Marcy. You can fix this. I know you can."

"But what do I _say_? 'Hey Bonni, sorry for making out with you in public and humiliating you in front of everyone even though I really liked it and I think we should do it again soon somewhere privately?"

"Well," Marshall smirks, "Sounds pretty genuine to me! It's perfect."

"Are you…serious?" Marceline smirks back, "Well, I'll use better words for it. Don't wanna be too crude. Thanks, bro. For sneaking around. And trying to help me. It means a lot."

"Don't mention it. And again..sorry I messed things up. But you can make it right. Good luck." He gives her a rock sign and leaves her room.

Marceline gets up and puts her guitar away. She breathes in slowly. _Okay. I can do this. _

_**Nobody said it was easy,**_

_**It's such a shame for us to part**_

_**Nobody said it was easy, **_

_**No one ever said it would be this hard…**_

**A/N: And there you have it. The song is The Scientist by Coldplay. I always thought this fit Bubblegum and Marceline well. There wasn't much interaction between the two in this chapter, so look forward to the next one! Reviews and suggestions would be great. **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks for all the encouragement, you guys. It really means a lot. Let me just note that the song in this chapter is "What Have You Done" by Within Temptation. Also, the italics can mean flashbacks, but I'm sure you guys could figure that out. **

**Enjoy! (: **

_0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o 0o0o0_

After Bonnibel Bubblegum had finished crying her heart out, she decided to head down to the basement, where her parents had built her a laboratory. The only way she could get her mind off things was to continue researching plantoids. She was about to add a glucose solution to a petri dish to test out their taxis and kinesis to the chemical when she heard distant yelling.

The only one other than her butler, Peppermint, present in the house was her cousin Bubba Gumball. He and his family lived in the same house as Bonnibel because of the convenience of the location of the mansion. This also stopped any family feuds about the inheritance of the mansion, because both the Bubblegum and Gumball family had agreed to share it. There was more than enough room.

_The boy had come back early from the cooking competition because of a fire that had occurred in the kitchens where the contest was going on. He was sorely disappointed, so he was anxious to get back in the kitchen. Before he could do so, however, he was met with his distraught cousin. He wouldn't let her be until she told him what was plaguing her mind. Her voice broke several times, clearly in pain from the humiliation. She had never seen Bubba grit his teeth so hard. No, not even at his last competition. His fists clenched as well and he finally spoke._

"_Th-that Marceline. Those lumping Abadeer twins are always messing around. She did it that because of a stupid __**dare**_**?**"

"_W-well, you know M-marceline," Bonnibel told him, "She and Marshall always dare each other to do…distasteful things. Like how last week, she dared her him to eat that rotting sandwi—" _

"_Please! Bonnibel. Do not ever mention that again," Gumball said, making a disgusted face. Bonni giggled, and Bubba was happy to see her smile. But then she sobered up and went back to the topic._

"_Anyway, I'm sure it was just a dare. Marshall and Ash were laughing. They seemed so…satisfied. And everyone else in the room—they were staring. And Marceline…she was grinning like an absolute idiot." Tears welled up in her eyes and she mumbled, "It was all just a joke to her." Bubba pulled Bonni into his arms and held her close. _

"_Well, at least you got a good whack at her, right?" Bubba said, chuckling. _

"_Sure did!" Bonni said. She paused, thinking. "It's just that…I don't know, Bubba. I thought for a moment that I was in a beautiful dream—that all my heart's wishes came true." She chokes out a half-laugh, half-sob. "I'm so pathetic. I really thought she wanted to kiss me. I thought she felt…the same way." Bubba pulled the girl tighter. He wasn't sure what to say. _

"_It'll be okay, Bonni. It'll be okay." He let his cousin calm down for a few minutes before saying, "Hey. Listen, I'm gonna make those tarts you love so much. The ones that __**grip**__ you with flavor. Sound good?" _

"_Mhmm!" Bonnibel nodded._

"_That's my girl. Now go blow your nosey and wash your face, okay? They'll be done in say…an hour." _

"_Okay." Bonni said, finally letting her cousin go. She started to leave and then paused at the door. She turned around and said, "Thanks, Bubby." _

"_No problem, Bonni." He smiled. _

It hadn't been half an hour after that she heard the yelling. She couldn't possibly imagine why her cousin would be yelling. And at who? She dropped her equipment and lab coat and climbed up the stairs. She followed his voice to the living room. Her heart stopped when she saw who was at the receiving end of her cousin's anger.

"I **just** told you. You're the last person she wants to see right now!"

"I lumping know that, Bubba. But you gotta gimme a chance! I just need to tell her that I'm—"

"Sorry, Marceline?" Bonnibel cut in. Marceline looked past Bubba and froze, her mouth slightly open. Bonnibel had seen this look before.

_It was just two weeks ago. Bonni and Bubba were holding a sleepover for the long weekend. All of their friends started pouring into the cousins' mansion. Marceline had frozen when she saw the pink haired girl. _

"_**That's**__ your pajamas? I always thought you hated that thing. You never wore it." She said, gesturing to Bonni's shirt. It was from this rock concert she had dragged her to._

"_Nope! I wear it all the time to bed." _

"_Oh? So you can dream about me every night?" _

"_Ahaha. Don't be silly, Marcy." Bonnibel felt her face heat up. She turned around, hoping the other girl hadn't seen her blushing face. "Anyway, everyone's all here now! Time to get this sleepover started." _

Marceline teased her nonstop that night.

"_So do you normally wear pants with those or is a special day? Just wondering."_

and

"_Hey Bonni? What's soft, pink, and tastes delicious? A mochi! Duh! What were you thinking?" _

and

"_Here! I'll sleep here." Bonnibel had quickly claimed the spot next to Marceline when the issue of sleeping arrangements came up._

"_Geez Bonni. Didn't know you wanted to sleep with me so bad." She gave the other girl a wink. _

"_Oh my. Ahaha, just stop Marcy." She had put her face in her hands in embarrassment. _

_She could hardly sleep that night. She faced the other way, but her heart still pounded hard in her chest. Marceline was right there, right next to her. She was facing the other way too. Was it for…the same reason? No. No way. _

_Marceline. Why do you torture me so? _

"Bonni?"

"Yes, Marceline. Who else would it be?" Bonnibel put on her best deadpanning act. Bubba is not nearly done with Marceline, but he knows that face. He quickly makes his way back to the kitchen to work on the tarts. They need to be alone.

"No, I…I just—"

"What? Isn't that all you came here to say? That you're sorry?"

"I mean, yeah. But—"

"Great. Apology accepted."

"What?"

"Marceline, you're deaf today. I said, apology accepted. I accept that you are sorry."

"So…that's it? I say I'm sorry, and you forgive me?"

"You're really not listening today. No one said anything about forgiveness. Accepting and forgiving are two separate things."

"No, Bonni. You're the one not listening to me. You're dismissing everything I say. Why don't you think I'm being genuine?"

_**I know, I'd better stop trying.**_

"Because Marceline, nothing is genuine when it comes to you. You love to flirt. You love to tease. You love pranks and jokes and dares. You take risks and act on impulse. Everything is just a big game to you, isn't it?"

_**You know that there's no denying.**_

"Bonni…you're right. About everything. I'm everything you say I am. But please believe me, for once. I didn't mean to hurt you. I wasn't thinking—"

_**I won't show mercy on you now. **_

"So how many points was that?"

"What?"

"How many points did you get for that little stunt you pulled in front of the cafeteria? How many points are you getting now, for apologizing? You get points, don't you? In this little game you're playing with your brother and Ash and Jake and Finn, or whoever else is—"

_**I know, I should stop believing. **_

"Finn?" Marceline says, "Finn is the one who was the most worried about you! He even made me promise to apologize to you and that's why I'm—"

"So **Finn** put you up to this? You didn't even try to 'apologize' on your own?" She made quotation gestures with her fingers. "Did he offer you some extra points?"

_**I know, that there's no retrieving. **_

"Stop that—"

"So what was it? Fifty points for the kiss and maybe twenty for the apology? Seventy points in total for Marceline Abadeer."

"That's enough, Bonni!" Marceline yelled. She looked down at her shoes and sniffed a little. She let a few tears drop, which she quickly wiped away. "That's enough. I get it. I only wanted to tell you that I'm sorry. I guess you already know that, and you don't wanna hear any more. I'll just…be on my way. Sorry for…wasting your time." And just like that, Marceline walked to the front door and let herself out. Bonnibel watched her through the window as she thrust her face into the crook of her elbow. Her body shook as she walked away.

_**It's over now…**_

As soon as the paler girl was out of view, Bonnibel fell to the ground. She hugged her knees and planted her face between them. Bubba rushed to her side immediately. He held the girl steady while she abused her tear ducts for the third time today.

_**What have you done? **_


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Wow! Thanks for all this support. You guys keep me going! This chapter took a little while but it's longer, so yeah. I don't think I'll ever live up to the last angst-filled chapter haha. I'm not really too happy with this one, but the story is going the way I want it to…I think. Hehe. We'll see. **

**Enjoy! **

Marceline and Marshall Lee Abadeer have always claimed that three things are true; that they are vampires, that they are identical twins, and that they can communicate to each other telepathically. The first one is obviously a joke, although many believe them because of their larger-than-average canine teeth, slightly pointy ears, and strange birthmarks on their necks. The second is also a joke. They're the opposite sex, so they're obviously fraternal rather than identical twins. The last one, however, is debatable.

They have always managed to communicate to each other somehow. Throughout years and years of mischief, they have always been able to warn each other of an approaching parent or teacher and escaped getting in trouble. When one knew the answer to a test question that the other did not, they were able to share the information somehow. When one was hurt or in pain, the other would feel it too.

So when Marshall Lee tried to work on his guitar solo, he found that he couldn't concentrate. He knew it had to do with his sister. Her visit to one of her closest friends wasn't going well. In fact, it was just getting worse and worse. And he felt guilty. It was all his fault. But honestly, he was just trying to help. _She's so stubborn. I thought she needed a push. And Bubblegum? Well, who knows what goes through that girl's mind. I just thought maybe if they shared a silly kiss, they could laugh it off in front of everyone and talk about it later when they were alone. Should've known this would happen. My plans always suck. _He went back to perfecting the chords for his solo. He was about to get the hardest part down when he heard the door unlock from downstairs. He set his guitar down and went down to greet Marceline.

"H-hey…sis?" He called out. He found her lying on the couch casually, her hands behind her head. To anyone else, this was her normal routine. But Marshall could see past that as soon as he approached her.

"'Sup Marsh."

"Are you…okay?" He asks slowly. Marceline closes her eyes and sits up.

"Yeah. 'Course." She says, her tone still casual. Marshall sits beside her. He can still see the redness on her nose and the tear stains around her cheeks.

"Marceline. How long have we known each other?" This question always makes her grin. The answer makes her chuckle. This time it doesn't do either.

"Since conception." She says, monotonously.

"Right. So I know you're not okay."

"Then why'd you ask?"

"Marcy…"

"She didn't even let me apologize, man. She didn't let me say that I was sorry, let alone tell her that I liked our kiss. And how it wasn't just a stupid prank, it was something real for once." She pauses and swallows. "That I love her and love spending time with her, and how I want to be with her. She didn't listen. To anything." Marshall doesn't know what to say. His sister puts her head on his shoulder.

"I guess…she's just really angry right now, Marce." He finally says. "She probably needs time."

"Maybe. But I just wonder if she's always felt that way. Maybe she's always thought I was stupid and childish, and not…genuine." She lets out a sigh. "Wouldn't be surprised. It all makes sense. She hates me. She's always hated me."

"That's not true, Marce. I know it's not. You'll see." That's all Marshall can offer for now.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 

"Hey Marcy! How'd it go?" The blonde boy asked, leaning against the locker next to Marceline's.

"Oh. Hi, Finn. Umm— "

"Wait! Don't tell me yet! I just need to tell _you _that I'm sorry. Cause like, I dunno. I had this gut feeling that you shouldn't do it and my gut's always right. But no one listens to me and that makes me feel like a _wad. _And then Bubblegum—she was so hurt, you know? And I didn't wanna see her that way. I don't like anyone getting hurt, you know? Which is why I said not to do it in the first place—"

"Okay, okay! I get it, Finn. It's okay though. You were right. About warning me not to do it. But you weren't right about me trying to confront her right away cause …" She drifts off. After a short pause, she says, " Well, let's just say Bonni wasn't ready to forgive me. Or to even listen to me."

"That bad, huh?" Finn says, wincing. _Yeah, I probably overdid the whole hero/mediator act. _"Bubblegum is…complicated." Finn had known her for almost two years, before he even came to high school. His best friend was dating her best friend, after all. He had a crush on her for the longest time, until about three months ago, when he met the new transfer student, Flame Princess. "I guess she just needs ti—"

"Time! Yeah, I know."

"Yeah. It's gonna be hard though. People are talking about what happened yesterday. Word spreads fast."

"Oh yeah. People. Ugh, they're always looking for drama."

"Mhmm. I heard these girls talking and they were being prettyy nasty about it. It's like we're not even living in the 21st century. We're all supposed to accept that kinda thing by now! And some people are so dumb, they think you did it because you wanted to!" He grins and places his hands behind his head, "Haha, they don't even know it was a dare!" Marceline bites her lip and looks at him a little hesitatingly.

"Uhm. Finn, there's something I should tell you." She brings herself closer to him and drops her voice. "I _did_ want to. I've always wanted to. I just went ahead with the dare to cover it up—"

"You WHAT?" Finn shouts, blushing a little. He looks around and drops his voice. "What I mean is, you did that in front of everyone. You could've waited 'til you were alone and then you could've told her."

"I wasn't _thinking,_ Finn. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I thought I could hide it behind jokes and pranks and everything would turn out okay, but it didn't."

"This definitely…complicates things. But listen Marcy, I totally support you. You and Bubblegum, huh?" He grins and shakes his head. "Should I keep this a secret or…?"

"Nah, there's no point. You suck at keeping secrets. You can tell Jake or your sister or whoever."

"Awh, Marcy. I can keep my mouth shut if I need to—" Marceline's eyes suddenly go wide at a realization.

"OH. Then good! Keep it shut just this once. Do. Not. Lumping. Tell. Bonni." She hisses. "Or else you'll find out if the whole vampire thing is _really_ true." She stops to think. "Or LSP for that matter. She'll glub things up. Just…use your head."

"G-gotcha," Finn says, shaking a little. At that, the bell rings. "Good luck in calculus!" is the boy's parting comment before he heads down the hall. Marceline forgot she had calculus with Bonni first thing in the morning. The pink-haired genius was only taking this class because of a requirement. She was already taking higher levels of math and chemistry at the local university. She always helped Marceline in calculus. She helped Jake out too, but Lady took care of that most of the times. Marshall was too prideful to ask for help but Gumball was always willing to help. _Gumball! I forgot about him. _

The halls start getting crowded as Marceline makes her way to her calculus class. She walks through the door and takes her seat next to Marshall. It looks like Jake and Lady have made up, because they're talking as usual. The seat between her and Lady is empty. She looks at it with worry.

"Lookin' for your girl?" Ash says, peering behind Marshall.

"She's not my…"

"She's coming," Lady says. "Don't worry." Marceline is grateful for Lady's sympathetic smile and tone. She's always been a forgiving person. "Oh. There she is now." Lady says, waving.

And right on cue, Bonnibel and Bubba walk in. They both seem to be in good spirits. Bubba takes a seat in front of Marceline and Bubblegum sits in her usual spot between Lady and Marceline.

"Good morning, everyone," she greets them as she sits down. The others greet her back. It was a daily routine for Bubblegum. She and her cousin had a very high-class upbringing and couldn't start the day without proper greetings. Marceline turns to talk to her brother while Bubblegum chats with her cousin and Lady. _Is this how it's going to be? We're just going to ignore each other? _

Everyone quieted down when the teacher came into the classroom and began the lesson. Marceline always had a hard time paying attention in calculus. She usually copied down the notes all right, but she usually didn't understand the lesson until Bonnibel went over it with her. Today, she couldn't even copy down the notes too well. She spent most of the period doodling and sneaking glances at Bonnibel. The other girl was sitting still the entire time, paying full attention. The teacher ended the lesson ten minutes early, and so he let his students work on the homework for the rest of the period. The classroom started to buzz as they paired off and started working. Marceline took out her textbook and froze as soon as she saw the first problem. She was already confused. She chewed the back of her pencil and stared harder at it. _Why am I in this class again? _ _I used to be okay at math… _

"Need help?"

It's Bonni. Marceline looks at her slowly. She has a blank expression on her face, but it's still friendly. It's still welcoming. _Déjà vu. _Marceline had seen this look before, about a year ago. She had been frustrated with a chemistry problem when the same girl approached her and offered to help. She had the same look on her face.

"Y-yeah. Sure." Marceline says. Bonnibel pulls her chair closer to Marceline.

"Okay. So this is just a differential equation. All you have to do is…" Marceline listens to the other girl, trying to learn the concept. It's not actually very hard once Bonni explains it. _She always has a way of making things less complicated. Except this. Except for what's going on right now. _"And then...divide both sides by Y and…" _Is that how she's breaking me down? _

_Am I just her problem? A problem that she's trying to solve? _

"Marceline! Are you even listening?" Marceline's heart jumps at hearing her name from her again. A wave of relief passes through her. _I don't mind when you scold me like this. _

"'Course I am, Bonnibel. I can do even do the next problem myself."

"Great! Let me watch you do the next problem." Marceline starts working on it, careful to do everything just the way Bonnibel showed her. Right before she's about to finish, she puts the pencil down and drops her voice.

"Bonni, I think we need to talk." The pink-haired girl's eyes widen for a quick second and soften again.

"After…yesterday, I don't think I can. For a while, anyway. I'm sorry." She thinks for a second and adds, "But I couldn't just ignore you. I'm just trying to be civil." _So we're still friends? _But Marceline was afraid to ask.

The bell rang and Bonnibel pulled her desk back. They both packed up their things.

"See you at lunch?"

"Yes, until then." The classroom began to clear out and Marshall looked to his sister when Gumball and Bubblegum were gone.

"Yeesh. Gummy's back already, huh?"

"Looks like it."

"He hasn't gotten a chance yet, but I'm pretty sure he's gonna explode pretty soon. The kid was glaring at me every second he got." He sighed. "Well at least Bubblegum's still talking to you."

"Yeah…though it just doesn't feel the same. She said she couldn't just ignore me. I guess I can't really ask for more than that." Marshall nodded in agreement as they left the classroom.

Marceline spent the next four periods thinking about Bonnibel, doodling in her notebooks more often than not. She didn't even mind Ash's rude comments in the World History class or Finn's constant chattering in the art class they were both in. She didn't even cut any classes.

Lunchtime finally arrived after what seemed like forever. She sat down at the usual table. The only one who wasn't there was Bonni. Her role as class president as well as the leader of the Spring Festival committee did that to her.

"'Sup guys?" Marceline greeted the others. Gumball and Lady looked at each other and nodded. They leaned over to the table and Gumball whispered, "Marceline. We need to talk to you. After school. Meet us back here in the cafeteria after it clears out. Bring your fine gentleman of a brother, too." He gestures to Marshall, who's sticking his nose up to Fionna.

"If you guys just wanna yell at us—"

"No. Just come, okay?"

"…okay." She said, nervously. But the two of them didn't look like they were angry or anything. They seemed like they really had something to tell her.

Bubblegum eventually joined her friends at the table. Nothing had changed much at all, except she could feel eyes from other tables glued to her. _No excitement for your entertainment today_, she scornfully thought. Marceline could feel it, too. She didn't push Bonni into talking to her or anything. Everything began to feel semi-normal.

She made it through the rest of the day without too much trouble. She did get a detention, however, for skipping her art history class. Other than that, it was like a normal day. In the back of her mind, however, she was worried about what Bubba and Lady had to say. She met up with the two along with her brother at the cafeteria.

"'Sup, Bubs?"

"Knock it off, Marshall. Be serious for once. You're just as responsible for what happened. But we're not here to discuss that. We're here to discuss how to fix it. An intervention of sorts."

"Ookay…"

"Marceline," Lady says. "I heard something very interesting from Jake today, who heard this from Finn."

"Oh no…"

"Oh yes. And we need to tell you," She looks at Bubba and nods. "That Bonnibel feels the same way."

"Huh?"

"Oh, for Glob's sake," Gumball says, "You're in love with Bonnibel, right?"

"Yes! With all my heart." Marceline says, before she even realizes how sappy that sounds.

"Well, Bonnibel is in love with you."

The words take a few seconds to sink in and Marceline's heart stops and her thoughts go wild.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hope I didn't take too long for this chapter. Enjoy.**

* * *

_Bonni loves…me? Is that why she…? And I did that…And she was upset. And she…she thinks it was a joke. She must've thought…thought that I was playing with her heart…_

"Aw yeah, son! I knew it. Bubbles was always giving Marcy the sexy eyes." Marshall bursts out, breaking the silence and interrupting Marceline's thoughts.

"Marshall! Why must you always be such a…a butt?"

"A butt? That's the best you can come up with, Gummy?"

"Yes. Because it's an accurate statement of what you are."

"Well at least I don't act like I have a **stick** up mine!"

"At least I don't smell like—"

"If you bickering _old ladies_ are done, I think Marceline would like to say something." Lady interrupts the two. They both turn their attention to Marceline, who has a contemplative look on her face.

"Um. I don't really know what to say. Just that…if she had feelings for me, I bet they've faded by now. I don't think she likes me anymore, after what I did—"

"You're wrong, Marceline. She feels just as strongly for you as she always has."

"Gumball, you were there yesterday. You probably heard everything. She hates me now."

"She doesn't _hate _you. She was just _angry. _Partially because she felt publicly humiliated, but more because she thought it was all a joke to you. But then we," he nods to Lady, "discovered that it wasn't. It _wasn't_ a joke, was it?"

"Of course not! That was probably the most genuine thing I ever did in my _life. _Because while we k-kissed…" She began to feel heat rise up to her cheeks. "I confirmed what I knew all along. That I loved her." She saw a smile spread across Lady's face.

"Bonnibel said something very similar! She said she felt her feelings truly awaken at that same moment." Marceline could now feel the burning sensation in her cheeks spread to her ears.

"She said that? She told you guys that? And you guys…why are you guys telling me this? I bet she wouldn't want me to know all that stuff."

"She does. But you know Bonnibel. She's not very confrontational. And besides, she's still angry. Perhaps she'll be angry with us too, but we thought you should know. Because you got yourself into this mess and you will be the one to get out of it."

"And this guy—" Gumball says, slapping Marshall Lee on the back, "is gonna help."

"Ow. Well I knew there was a purpose behind my being here. How am I supposed to help?"

"We were thinking…one thing Bonnibel can't get enough of is Marceline's music." Lady says. Gumball nods in agreement and turns to Marceline.

"It's like when you're playing guitar or your bass or even singing, nothing else exists. She can only see and hear you. She's put in a trance." In the back, Marshall grumbles something about not having his question answered.

_That's right. Back then, at our campfire at the beach last summer. We were all there. I played my guitar and everyone sang along. Everyone except Bonni. She spent the entire time staring at me. I just thought…it was a quirk of hers. I remember…I fumbled up the chords and messed up the song because of her. She made me so nervous. _

'_Bonni! Stop staring at me. You're throwing me off.'_

'_Hehe, sorry Marcy! You just sounded so good and looked so focused and passionate.' That's what she said, or something like that. I remember now. I wondered if it meant something, but I kind of brushed it off as false hope. _

"Yeah, I noticed that. She likes a bit of music, nothing new there."

"Not just any music. She likes _your _music. I'm her cousin, and I know that she doesn't react to any other kind of music that way." _Well…can't argue with him there. And if she's really in love with me too, it's understandable. She loves me, and she loves music. Now what? _

"So what, Gummy? You want me to _serenade _to her or something?"

"Precisely. If she isn't willing to talk, maybe she's willing to listen to your music." _Is she? Could this work? Maybe it could. There's definitely a chance it can. _Marceline felt a bit of relief in her heart.

"And am I supposed to help Marcy with this serenade or what?" Marshall cuts in.

"You got it! Your band is in the line-up for Spring Fling, right? The committee won't allow any more acts to the show, but you can add some songs or replace a few of the songs you were going to do with something Marceline can sing." Gumball turns to Marceline. "And you can pick a song or two that you know Bonnibel will like. You know what she likes." Marceline nodded.

_Yeah. I do know. I could think of five, right now, at the top of my head. But I need to pick one or two carefully. To tell her how I feel. How I'm sorry, and how I love her. _

"Whoa, okay. Back up there, Bubs. There's a bunch of problems with that. First of all, the festival's on Saturday. That gives us three lumping days, not including today, to practice."

"Then you, Marceline, and your band will have to work very hard, won't they?"

"That's easier said than done, man. The Scream Queens just finished practicing two of our original songs. That took almost a month, and a lot out of us. Now you want to add two more songs to our line-up? It'll be kinda hard, even if they are just covers."

"Well, I could pick some songs for us to cover that aren't too hard to learn. I'm thinking of one right now. It's pretty acoustic- y and the rest of the band just has to follow my lead. The other one I'm thinking of is a little harder, but I've played it with Keila and Guy when I was with the Scream Queens. So they know it. It'll be just you and Ash who have to learn it…"

"And there's problemo number two! Ash. He isn't gonna agree to this." _Oh right,_ Marceline thinks, _that's why we keep him around. He's a part of Marshall's band. Well, my band. Before I left and the only person Marshall could find to play rhythm guitar was Ash. _

"That butt-face can suck it."

"Geez, Marcy. I can't have him quit over this, or something." Marshall said, as if it was his number one fear. Marceline considered it for a moment. _I quit because I just wanted to do a bit of solo work on my own. I didn't think Marshall would be so crazy about the band, going so far to replace me. I guess it meant a lot more to him than it did to me. I should've considered his feelings. _

"If Ash quits, then I'll re-join The Scream Queens. Permanently. Or until…whenever."

"Seriously?" Marshall says, incredulously. "Well…you were way better than Ash. Guy and Keila will be way happier to have you back. Heh, I'm almost hoping he quits now." He thinks for a moment and says, "You're really serious about this, huh?"

"I'm willing to do whatever it takes. I'll even practice the parts for the rhythm guitar for your two original songs on my own. I can improvise to coordinate with your band. You know I'm good at that."

"That's awesome. We didn't even include too much rhythm guitar. Ash doesn't show up half time." Marshall's face breaks into a smile. "Wow. We might actually pull this off!"

"That's the spirit!" Gumball says. He adds, "I actually foresee another problem. Bonnibel shouldn't know that Marceline will be playing at the show. It would be better as a surprise." The others nodded in agreement.

"Is that all, then?" Lady says, giggling. "This was a very productive meeting." They all laugh, say their goodbyes, and head out. Marceline remembers she needs something from her locker, so the twins head up to it.

"Do you think this plan will work, Marsh?" Marceline asks, opening up her locker.

"Heck yes! It's perfect. Totally mathematical."

"As mathematical as me?" The twins turn around to see Ash standing right there. "What plan are you two talking about?"

"Whoa. Ash. Just the man I wanted to see!" Marshall says, playing it cool. "Listen, there's a change in our lineup. We're gonna do our two original songs like we planned, but we're also gonna play two cover songs. Marcy's gonna do lead vocals."

"Yo, what? You guys plan this on your own?"

"Yeah. Well I'm sure Keila and Guy will be okay with it, considering Marcy's gonna be back."

"No way, man. We already got our songs down." He stops and looks at Marceline. "What's this about anyway? Mar-mar, you wanna be back in the band?"

"Don't lumping call me that. And sorta. For now, it's just for this show."

"It's three days away. Why would you randomly wanna do this?" Ash persists. Marceline sighs. She has no choice but to tell him.

"It's…it's for Bonni." She finally says. Ash bursts out laughing.

"You serious? Gonna sing a couple songs to win your girl back?" He says, between spurts of laughter. "You seriously think you'll sing a few love songs to her and she'll wet her panties—" Marceline grabs him by the collar and slams him up against the lockers. Marshall can only stare in shock.

"Don't. You. Ever," She snarls between gritted teeth, "Talk about Bonni like that. Or talk to her. Or look at her. Or be anywhere in her _proximity_. I swear, Ash, I'll mess you up." She let's go of him and he falls over and coughs. She backs away from him, her hands still shaking from anger.

"You're even lumping –ugh-crazier than I remember," he says between coughing. He starts getting up and then says, "I don't need this. This lumping band first sucks out all my free time. Now I get attacked by my freaky lovestruck ex over some lesbian crush she has…" Marshall Lee feels his own hands beginning to shake as a look of panic washes over his sister. _The last thing Marcy needs right now is to think that this is just some stupid crush and that it won't be worth it. _

"That's enough, Ash! If you hate the band so much, you can get the math out of it, all right? Get lost. You're through with the band. And I'm through with this…friendship or whatever we had. Let's go, Marcy." The twins turn away from Ash and begin walking away. He started shouting

"Yeah, sure man! I don't need dweebs like you around anyway. And the band sucked butt." Seeing as neither of those things bothered the Abadeer twins, Ash took to a new approach. "And uh yeah, don't talk about 'friendship' with me and junk. No homo, bro. You and Gummy-boy got enough of that going on!" Marceline feels her brother tense up next to her as they're walking away. She can't tell if he's blushing furiously from anger or embarrassment. His hands ball into fists and she can tell that he's thinking about turning around and running back just to bust Ash's face. She grabs his arm before he can do anything.

"Don't, Marsh. He's not worth it, okay?" Marshall nods.

The twins make their way to their car and it's Marceline's turn to drive. She keeps glancing at her brother while driving back.

"What?" Marshall finally asks.

"You were awfully mad about the whole Gummy-boy comment."

"No I wasn't!" He quickly dismisses it.

"Yeah you were, man. And now you're being defensive."

"No I'm not!"

"Yeah you are."

"No. I'm not."

"Yeahhh you are!" She says, with a cheshire grin. Marshall lets out a breath. This was a game they used to play. Whoever got annoyed first lost. In this case, he lost.

"Okay. You got me. I sorta-kinda-maybe like him. Are you happy?"

"Hehe. I knew it. What're you gonna do about it?" She says, smirking.

"I don't know, Marcy. Just give it a rest for now, okay?"

"All right, all right."

Marshall crosses his arms. _She's won this time but…wait. No she hasn't. _He grins his own version of the Cheshire grin.

"You wanna know what I _won't _do about it, though?"

"Hm?" She quickly glances to him before looking back at the road.

"I definitely **won't** make out with him in front of hundreds of people and pretend I did it because of a dare."

"…shut up."

* * *

**A/N: Some of you guys wanted some GumLee, and there you have it! I don't really want to go into either GumLee or FP/Finn. Just hints are enough.**

**Speaking of which, I'll self-promote and ask you guys to please check out my Bubbline (/watch?v=KWuOzVhWZU4&feature=relmfu) and Finn/FP (/watch?v=cnWZmM3ZTlk&feature=plcp) music videos on youtube. You guys rock. **

**Lastly, I think the next chapter will be in Bubblegum's POV, so look forward to that. **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Ohhh man. Loving the reviews, you guys. You kids are so pumped about this story. This chapter's almost 3k words and was a little hard to write. I was thinking about breaking it up in two, but I decided not to. You get to see the average days of Bonnibel Bubblegum…sorta. You'll see! **

**Enjoy.**

* * *

_Bonnibel rested her head on something very soft and warm. Someone's lap? Her eyes were shut and her eyelids felt too heavy to allow her to open them. She felt a cool hand stroke her cheek softly. The hand shifted up and ran through her hair. The hand stopped and Bonnibel felt another hand gently lay her head on the ground, which she could feel was covered by a fleece blanket. The gentle wind against her face and the smell of grass indicated that she was outside. The stranger spoke. _

"_Bonni." _

"_Marceline?" _

_Her eyelids were suddenly less heavy. She opened them slowly. There she was, hovering above her. Her cool hands wrapped around Bonnibel's wrists and pinned them down softly. _

"_Bonni," She said again, leaning down towards the other girl's face. Bonnibel closed her eyes and pushed her face to meet Marceline's. She felt the other girl's lips brush against her own, and—_

"Bonnibel! Wake up!" Gumball says, shaking her awake. He's fully dressed, but she can see that he hasn't done his hair yet. "Sorry. You looked so peaceful but…it looks like your alarm clock didn't wake you up. It's only 6:15 though, so you should still have just enough time to get ready." He's speaking directly to her, but his gaze is directed towards her arms. She looks down to see her arms tightly wrapped around a fluffy pink pillow. She quickly lets it go, blushing.

"Oh no! I don't know how that happened. Thank you for waking me up, Bubba."

"No problem. Better me than Peppermint, right?"

"Yes!" Bonnibel says with a giggle, thinking about her experiences with Peppermint's rude awakenings.

"See you downstairs for breakfast," He says, beginning to walk away. He stops at the door and turns his head. He gestures to her rock shirt. "Oh. And I hope you've been washing that consistently." He winks and walks out. She looks down at her shirt and blushes.

"Y-you butt!" She yells after him, to which he responds with a loud, hearty laugh echoing down the stairs. _I can't believe Bubba's teasing me too. He's been around Fionna too much, who's been around Marshall too much. _

She sighs and begins removing her pajamas and puts on her bathrobe. The rock shirt looks especially dark and morbid while juxtaposed against her pink bed. In fact, anyone would come to the conclusion that this particular shirt just didn't belong with the pink walls, curtains, carpets, sheets, pillows, stuffed animals, and every other piece of pink décor in the room.

She picks up the shirt and holds it tightly to her chest. _What was that dream? I'm supposed…to hate you. All you've done is hurt me. I'm just a small part of your rebellious teen act. Taking dangerous risks to impress your friends, acting on impulses, not paying attention in class…no sense of duty. Why do I…_She pressed her lips lightly to the shirt. _Why do I love a person like that? _

* * *

Bonnibel could tell Finn was keeping a secret from her. The boy was acting antsier than usual, constantly looking around and trying to choose his words wisely. This wasn't like back then, when he still had a crush on her. This was somehow different. In fact, all of Bonnibel's friends were looking guilty of something. And not just the ones who **were** indeed guilty of something, either. Even her cousin and Lady were whispering to each other and stopped when she made it to her seat near them. She greeted everyone as usual and sat down.

For the first time in a long while, Bonnibel found that she couldn't focus. But oh no, she didn't _need_ to focus in class. At all. She was studying at least three years beyond the material in this class at the university. This intro calculus class was child's play. The only reason she paid attention at all was…_so I could teach the material back to Marceline in a way she could understand. _She shakes her head at the thought. No, it was also because she was a good student. She had duties. _Not everything revolves around Marceline the idiotic, self-proclaimed vampire queen. _

And yet, she found herself losing self-control, breaking her attention from the teacher in order to take a peek at the other girl. Marceline's cheek was resting on one hand, and the other hand was holding a pencil. _I can't tell if she's actually paying attention or…. _

Bonnibel heard the distinct sound of light snoring from the other girl. _She's sleeping. Of course she's sleeping. And I'm still going to be the one explaining the material to her. I can't help it. I want her to do well. _

_Hey Marceline, are you even trying? Why am I the only one trying?_ She gritted her teeth in anger.

"Marceline!" she hissed loudly. Marceline snapped up awake.

"Whaaaaa—?!" She yelled loudly, interrupting the teacher. Other sleeping students snapped awake too. Everyone in the room turned their attention to Marceline.

"Excuse me, Ms. Abadeer. Is there a problem?"

"N-no, sir. It's just that I saw…" She looks at Bonnibel, "…a spider." A few of the other students chuckle, as if Marceline would be scared of a spider. She looks back at the teacher and says, "So uhh yeah. Everything's mathematical!"

"I sure hope so…" The teacher grumbles, returning to the board and continuing his lesson.

Marceline glares at Bonnibel, who gives the other girl a sweet, passive-aggressive smile. _That's what you get for not paying attention. _Marceline pouts a bit, jokingly. Both of them go back to listening to the lesson and stealing glances at each other when they think the other isn't looking.

Bonni finds that she can't pay attention in the rest of her classes, either. She keeps thinking about the kiss. Or kisses, really. The one that really happened, and the one that she dreamt of. Just thinking about them makes her heartbeat quicken and her cheeks flush. The day passes by very much like this. At lunch, she notices a few people missing. Ash is on a different table, which is strange but is also a relief. She didn't like him very much. The Abadeer twins are also missing from the scene. She dismisses the thought. Marceline probably got a lunch detention or something. And Marshall must still be practicing for the Spring Fling festival on Saturday. She mentally notes that she has the committee meeting tomorrow and Friday to wrap everything up and make sure everything runs smoothly.

After school, Peppermint drops her off at the university, where she spends two more hours between her Advanced Biochemistry class and Calculus with Differential Equations class. She can finally get her mind off Marceline. Or so she thinks.

After hours of doing her university class' homework as well as the much easier high school work, Bubba presents her with red velvet cupcakes as a reward. He often bakes in between doing homework along with Bonnibel. She thanks him for the treat and begins to eat them. Her mind wanders back to Marceline, whose favorite dessert is red velvet cupcakes. She thinks back to her last birthday party, which was rather small and enjoyable. It was nice to see everyone dressed up nicely.

_After a large, filling dinner was served, dessert came next. Bonnibel's cooks brought out many tarts, pies, cupcakes, and fruits. Bubba commented on how he came up with a special recipe for the red velvet cupcakes. Finn noticed a pattern in Marceline's dessert choices. _

"_Marcy, what's up with your dessert plate? Strawberries, red cupcakes, cherries…cranberry juice?" _

"_Finn, I told you. I eat red things. It's a vampire thing, you know? Instead of drinking blood, I just eat red food." She grins at him. "It's a good substitute." Finn and Jake look at each other, clearly terrified. _

"_Red tastes the best. Doesn't matter what kinda food, as long as it's red." Marshall agrees with his sister. _

"_Yup. Or any shade of red, really." Marceline leans over to Bonnibel and sniffs her hair. "Like pink. I bet pink tastes delicious too." She kisses her blushing cheek and whispers something like, "Kisses for the birthday girl."_

Bonnibel sighs. _Always the tease._ After finishing homework and eating supper, Bonnibel kisses her parents, who are scarcely home, goodnight and heads to bed. She finds her laundry all clean and placed on her bed by one of the maids. She puts away all of her clothes except her rock shirt and pink pajama bottoms.

* * *

The next day, she and Bubba enter their calculus class before any of their friends. Lady and Jake arrive next and greet the cousins. Bonnibel notices that Ash is, again, sitting far away. Something must've happened between him and Marshall. She shrugs it off again, hoping it won't affect the show in two days. The twins are the last people to arrive.

"You can't keep staying up that late, Marce. Don't kill yourself over this." Marshall's saying to his sister, who looks more like a zombie than as the vampire she claims to be.

"Yeah I," She yawns, "know. At least I finished up the first…" She stops, noticing that Bonnibel is looking straight at her. "The first project."

"What kind of project?" Bonnibel asks.

"It's for…art. Just doing a self-portrait and I procrastinated."

"Oh, procrastination? What else is new." Bonnibel says. She expects Marceline to laugh it off and maybe even congratulate her on making sarcastic jokes. It's what she would normally do. But instead, the dark-haired girl bites her lip and seems to be holding something back.

"Whatever, Bonni." She finally says, sitting down and taking out her notebook. Bonnibel thinks about apologizing, but decides not to. Marceline looks cold and unapproachable, the way that the girl looked before she met her.

Before she knew it, fourth period gym class came around, which she was taking this year because she missed it freshman year due to schedule conflicts.

"You okay, Bubblegum? You look a little spacey," Fionna says as soon as they meet up at their usual spots in the locker room. Fionna was one of the many people who refer to others by their last names. It was just what she preferred, like calling Bubba "Gumball" instead.

"Hm? Oh, I'm sorry. I'm just thinking about…things." Fionna, being a spectator to the past events that happened as well as being a friend, knows what kinds of things she could be thinking about.

"Do you wanna…talk about it?" Fionna offers, not too sure what else to say. Girl talk isn't really her thing. It isn't really Bonnibel's thing either, but she isn't sure if she can keep it bottled up any longer. They talk while changing into gym clothes.

"I…it's just that I had this dream. The night before last night," She says slowly. She adds, "About Marceline." She isn't sure if Fionna knows about her feelings for Marceline, but she gets the impression that it doesn't matter.

"Oh. Um. Like _that _kind of dream?" Fionna says, blushing and chuckling her signature nervous laughter. It sounds like "Hehe."

"N-no, not like _that. _But…_s_omething close to it." She blushes and looks down to her hands. "I just can't seem to get her out of my mind. I couldn't even pay attention in class. I know I've done nothing but yell at her and turn her down when she wanted to talk and criticize her but…I can't help but wonder if she really even cares, if she's really going to try to fix this. She seemed so distant today."

"Of **course** she cares!" Fionna insists. She freezes, seeming to realize her outburst was a little too much. "I mean, I'm sure she's trying. She's just giving you time. That's what you wanted, right?"

"Yes, that's true. I'm not really ready to talk yet."

"Then that's that! You should just wait. Marceline's the kind of person to make the first move," Fionna stops to nervously laugh at what that statement could imply, and then says, "I think…she's waiting for the perfect time. And then you'll both be okay again."

Bonnibel nods and thinks back to her dream. _I want to be more than okay. _

After gym class, the two girls head to the chorus room in the music building of the high school. It's the biggest classroom in the school, the perfect place to hold a meeting as large as the Spring Fling committee meeting. The committee breaks up into about four groups to finalize the different aspects of Spring Fling. Bonnibel checks up on each group, crosses out items from her checklist, and takes an inventory of the props and items needed. She's almost done with the inventory when she sees the advisor of the committee approaching her.

"Bonnibel? Can I ask you to please ask the band practicing down the hall if they need any amplifiers for the show—"

"NO!"

The advisor and Bonnibel look to see that the outburst came from Fionna, Lady, and Cake collectively. The three of them all look embarrassed. Fionna gets up from her chair.

"Um. What I meant is…I'll do it! Bubblegum is still busy with the inventory, right? So I'm free to do that." Without waiting for a response, Fionna leaves the room. The advisor finds it strange, but doesn't mind, as long as the job gets done.

"Okay," Bonnibel says, approaching Cake and Lady. "What was that all about?"

"Um," Cake says, running her hand through her dyed blonde and orange hair, "Fionna…has a crush on Marshall! Yeah! She wants _every_ opportunity to see him."

"Oh my," Bonnibel says, "I'm glad she's gotten the chance then." _Fionna likes Marshall? And somehow…I just don't see it. But you can't really help it, who you fall in love with. _

O0o0o0o00o

The rest of the day is fairly uneventful, except for the fact that she doesn't see Marceline at lunch again.

In fact, she's not even in class the next day, on Friday.

"Where's Marceline?" She asks Marshall.

"Oh yeah. She said she just needed a bit of extra sleep. Still working on that project. Heh. She'll be back by next period or third maybe."

"She's skipping out on class to make up for sleep because of another class? That's not very responsible. She needs to get her priorities straight."

"Y-yeah. Her priorities." Marshall mumbles.

Bonnibel starts to feel anxious. It's so strange, not having Marceline beside her. She would call Lady her "best friend," but things changed when Lady got a boyfriend. They were still best friends, but Marceline was her stabilizing figure. Everything was better after she met Marceline. She was introduced to new friends, helped her find new music, and showed her different points of view. Marceline changed her life. For the better. And now…

Now she didn't even show up to lunch anymore. What was going on?

"Okay. Where the plum is Marceline _this time?" _She addressed her lunch table.

She hears a barrage of answers from the group. Some of them are believable, like Fionna's "Lunch detention. She's gotten a whole lot of lunch detentions piling up." Others are somewhat so believable, like Finn's "Giving freshmen wedgies and stealing their lunch money," and Jake's "Picking her nose somewhere. Heh."

"S-stop, you guys. I'm serious here."

"I am too!" Finn says, pointing to himself. "She gives freshmen wedgies when you're not looking. I have first-hand experience"

"She picks her nose while you're not looking, too." Jake says, grinning.

Bonnibel realizes her friends are only trying to make her laugh. But they don't understand. They don't understand the ache in her chest, the hole in her heart. They don't understand her _need_ for Marceline. Just to see her and be able to talk to her and have everything the way it was. But she laughs along with them.

"Very funny you guys," She says, forcing a laugh. "I think I'll believe Fionna though. I'm gonna have to have a talk with her about her lunch detentions."

But still, she can't shake the feeling that everyone is keeping a secret from her. The nervous looks, the strange outbursts. _What's going on? _

By the end of the school day, Bonnibel thinks of something. As soon as the bell rings, she pushes past crowds of people and finally gets a glimpse of Marceline for the first time that day. Her breathing becomes uneven and her heartbeat speeds up. She walks up to the other girl, who's busy opening up her locker.

"Marceline! There you are. I haven't seen you all day." She says, smiling. Marceline turns around. She looks less tired than the day before, but still a little overworked.

"Ohh yeah. Shoot. Sorry Bonni, I've just been real busy."

"I know. But I…I was just worried." She pauses to look around and looks back at Marceline and decides to finally let it out. "Marcy, I think I'm ready to talk now! I need—"

"Whoa, uhh. Wait. I'm just really rushed now, Bon. This isn't the time or place." She shuts her locker.

"What? Marceline…"

"No, look. I'm glad you're ready to talk. I am too. And we will." She swings her backpack over her shoulder. "Tomorrow, at the concert. Okay? I'll see you there." She gives her a smile and begins to walk away. Bonnibel isn't sure how to feel at this point. A little crushed over having Marceline dismiss her so quickly, or excited for tomorrow.

Not excited because it's Spring Fling and she basically planned the entire thing. No, she was excited to finally be able to talk to Marceline again.

So when Marceline wasn't among her group of friends sitting at the front of the outdoor stage, Bonnibel felt more than just a little hurt.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Well. This is it, you guys. The concert. There will be only one chapter after this. This one is still in Bonnibel's perspective, so the next one will be in Marceline's. Or both, maybe.**

**The first song is Mess I Made by Parachute. The second is Apology by Safety Suit. I recommend listening to them when they come up in this chapter. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Spring Fling officially begins at 2pm in the vast soccer field behind the school. Bonnibel and the other members of the committee arrive at 12pm to set up various booths and stations. Bubba isn't a part of the committee, but his cooking club is holding a fundraiser at the festival. The club has its own booth set up, selling all kinds of sweets. He and the other members of the club go to the school's culinary department to bake warm, fresh baked goods.

Meanwhile, Bonnibel hangs up the signs for face painting, airbrush tattoos, and caricature drawings. A truck arrives shortly, carrying the Velcro wall, mechanical bull, bouncy house, and other ridiculous inflatable games. She directs where to place all of them. Next, she moves onto the stage and helps her friends, Fionna, Cake, and Lady, set up the instruments that will later be used for the concert. Behind the curtains, there are extra instruments that certain bands can take out and set up themselves if the need arises. By the time she and the other committee members are finished placing almost 300 chairs around the stage, Bonnibel is dead tired.

As she's reporting back to the advisor about the state of the festival at around 1:30, she sees some of her friends approaching. She finishes her report and goes to greet Finn, Jake, and Flame Princess. From the distance, she sees that her cousin is coming back from his booth and headed towards the group also.

"Hi guys," She says, "You sure are early. The festival doesn't begin for another half hour."

"Of course we're early! We gotta get **front** seats!" Finn says, enthusiastically.

"For the concert?"

"Heck yes, for the concert. We absolutely need the best seats." Bubba says, finally reaching them. Bonnibel looks at him and raises an eyebrow.

"Bubba, I didn't know you were into rock music, too. You always said it didn't suit _me_ to appreciate it. Now you're all…into it?"

"Oh. Um w-well. It's not so much the rock music, it's…" He coughs, clearly embarrassed by something. He's even blushing a little. "It's M-marshall. We must all support him by watching…in the front…yes." He finishes lamely. She gives him a look that only cousins who are as close as siblings would understand.

"I understand." She finally says slyly. _Fionna and Gumball both like Marshall? Who knew__? _ "We should get going, then." Bubba is looking away, still blushing and looking contemplative as the group heads towards the stage.

Bonnibel could see that the rest of their friends are already standing near the front of the stage. They all greet each other and all the friends sit down and bustle into conversation. Bonnibel sits in between Finn and Bubba. Finn keeps her busy by retelling the story of saving a smaller freshman named Cubby from being bullied by a senior. It isn't until ten minutes before the concert is set to begin that other students rush in like a school of fish and begin filling up the seats. Out of the corner of her eye, Bonnibel can see some of the bands going up the stage and behind the curtains. However, the bands aren't her main concern. The thought that plagues her mind is…

"Why the math is Marceline not here yet? She said she would be!" She says, looking to each one of her friends' faces, hoping for answer that she knew she wouldn't get.

"Oh my glob. Calm down, Bubblegum," Begins LSP from a few seats away, "Isn't she gonna be playing—"

"YAHHHHHHH" Finn screeches, jumping out of his chair and tackling LSP to the ground. Several people turn their attention to him.

"What the **stuff** is wrong with you, Finn?!" She says, pushing him off. "I knew you wanted these lumps but—" He cuts her off by harshly whispering something. She says, "Okay I totally get it. Now can you get off?!" Finn gets up and returns to his seat between Flame Princess and Bubblegum as if nothing happened. The spectators of this event shrug and go back to their own conversations. Fionna, Lady, Bubba, and the rest of the group, who were initially shocked, sigh with relief.

"Finn. I'm going to be expected to ignore that, aren't I?" Bonnibel concludes.

"Yup."

"Finn. Why."

"I just wanted to give LSP a hug! Geez. OH LOOK. The show's beginning." Finn says, pointing to the stage. The first band signed up to play is already set up to play. The field begins to quiet down. Bonnibel turns to her cousin.

"Bubba, please. What was that all about? She's playing…?"

"I haven't the slightest idea, Bonnibel." He says, not looking at her. Before the field is completely silent, he says, "Now let's be respectful of the bands and quiet down."

Bonnibel looks down at her lap. _Okay. Either all of my friends have lost their minds, or I've lost my mind. And since all of my friends believe their behavior is completely acceptable, I am going to conclude that is me who has lost her mind. _The band on the stage introduces themselves as the Devil Cake Downers and begins to play. Bonnibel finds herself mildly enjoying the concert. She taps her foot not only to the beat, but she also taps it impatiently. Another band is up. After the third band is finished and the next one is nearly done setting up, her cousin leans over to her.

"The Scream Queens is the last band going up, right?"

"I think so. It'll be after this one."

"Okay, great! And Bonnibel?"

"Hm?"

"She'll be here."

"Huh?" She looks at her cousin questionably. But his attention is back to the stage, which explodes in a loud guitar riff. She goes back to watching the band, too.

After the fourth band is finished with their ear-splitting rock and roll gig, they quickly leave to go behind the curtains. Everything is quiet for about ten whole seconds.

Out of nowhere come the sounds of something bursting. The stage fills with black and pink smoke. Some of it comes off the stage and surrounds Bonnibel and her friends. The smoke is chilly and makes her eyes tear up a bit. The crowd goes wild as the smoke begins to clear. It only reveals one figure.

"Gooood afternoon, Ooo High School! How're y'all doing?!" says the booming voice of Marshall Lee, who's clutching the microphone. He gets even louder cheering and whooping in response.

"Good! Well, I'm Marshall Lee, the vampire king, playing bass! Back there on the lead guitar is Keila," he says, as the smoke clears around the girl. It then begins to reveal a drum set. "On the drums we got Guy. And on the rhythm guitar, we got…" The smoke clears.

Bonnibel's breath is caught in her throat. Her heart skips a beat. Her eyes focus in on the black-haired girl coming out of the smoke. She's grinning ear to ear, gazing across the crowd.

"Marceline, your one and only vampire queen!" The crowd goes insane with cheering and whistling. Bonnibel is the only one who's frozen still. She stares hard at Marceline. _You're…back with the band? That's it? You could've just told me…_

"The Scream Queens are just as happy to have her back!" Marshall says after the noise dies down. "And we've got two brand-new original songs for you." After the second wave of noise goes down, he says "And after that, a special something. Look forward to it!" In a burst of energy, the band begins to play.

Marceline is no longer looking at the crowd. She's solely concentrating on playing the rhythm guitar. Bonnibel can see her eyes shifting back and forth from her fretting hand to her strumming hand, making sure to hit the right chords. _Is this what she was busy with? Did she just…learn this piece a few days ago? _ Marceline looked up from her guitar and began to vocalize with Marshall a bit. Their voices sounded good mixed together. Much better than if Ash was there.

_So strange. I guess Marshall got into a fight with Ash. And Marceline took over the job for the rhythm guitar. I shouldn't have…said those rude things. About her procrastinating and being unmotivated about everything. She must've worked so hard on this. _The song ends and the crowd cheers. Bonnibel, finally out of her initial shock of seeing Marceline up on the stage, claps and cheers along.

"Thank you, thank you! You guys rock!" He says, giving the crowd the rock sign. "This next one is dedicated to all our fans…" And the music begins anew. Bonnibel doesn't so much hear the music. She can only concentrate on Marceline. The black-haired rocker's fingers move faster than before. Bonnibel can almost see the sweat glistening on her forehead.

_I was wrong, Marcy. You do work hard. But I don't get it. Why didn't you say anything? You lied to me. You said you had an art project. And everyone else…they covered this up, too. Everyone hid it from me, the fact that you were going to be playing today, or that you re-joined The Scream Queens They all didn't want me to know. _Marceline looked up from her guitar and provided some more back-up vocals, harmonizing well with her brother.

_Why? _

The second song slowly ended, causing the audience to cheer out once more. Again, Bonnibel clapped along. She watched as a crew member came from the stage and took away Marceline's rhythm guitar. From the side, Marceline pulled out a keyboard and its stand. The crew member came back to quickly plug the keyboard in and set it up. A microphone was on the side of it, just close enough for Marceline to be able to talk into it.

"Wow, Marcy can play the keyboard?!" Finn shouts over the sound of the crowd half-cheering, half-talking amongst themselves. He looks to his left and right.

"Guess so!" Jake shouts back. "That girl can play anything."

_Like my heart,_ Bonnibel can't help but think. _What are you up to now, Marceline?_

She thinks about asking her friends about what was going on, and why they kept this whole thing a secret from her. But before she knows it, Marceline is speaking into the microphone. She's looking into the middle of the crowd.

"Good afternoon, everyone. I'm so happy to be back with the Scream Queens!" Cheering ensues. "Today, I'm going to be singing something that's not exactly my style. I don't mean to bum you guys out with this super sentimental song, but it's good to get out of your comfort zone once in a while. Because today, I'm singing this for someone special."

She looks straight into Bonnibel's eyes. "You'll know who you are." She smiles sadly. The crowd is silent. Marceline begins to play and softly sing.

"_**Should've…kissed you there." **_

She closes her eyes.

_**"I should've held your face." **_

She opens them again.

_**"I should've watched those eyes**_  
_**Instead of run in place.  
I should've called you out,  
I should've said your name  
I should've turned around  
…I should've looked again." **_

The rest of the band begins playing and the music picks up.

"_**But oh…I'm staring at the mess I made,  
I'm staring at the mess I made  
I'm staring at the mess I made  
As you turn…"**_

_Marceline, you…_

"_**You take your heart and walk away…" **_

_You really feel this way?_

"_**Should've held my ground, **_

Bonnibel could see her eyes glistening.

"_**I could've been redeemed.**_  
_**For every second chance  
That changed its mind on me.  
I should've spoken up,  
I should've proudly claimed**_

Marceline has a pained expression on her face. Her voice grows stronger.

"_**That all my head's to blame  
For all my heart's mistakes…"**_

She opens her piercing eyes again, still staring right into Bonnibel's.

"_**But oh…I'm staring at the mess I made,  
I'm staring at the mess I made  
I'm staring at the mess I made  
As you turn…"**_

The music fades away.

"_**You take your heart and walk away..."**_

The crowd is silent for a few moments, but then bursts into applause and cheering. Marceline seems to wipe away her face. Bonnibel looks down to her lap. She begins to feel light-headed. This is how she always feels after being mesmerized by Marceline's music. She can feel her friends' eyes on her. _Do they want a reaction? I don't know…how to feel. She did this for me and all this time…I was only thinking of myself. _

"Thanks, everyone! You're a great crowd. I kinda glubbed up with the instruments because…I need my rhythm guitar back for this one," She's saying while a crew member is taking back the keyboard. "You can all listen to me talk some more instead." The audience collectively chuckles.

"Anyway, it felt right to sing that one first. Because you can apologize all you like, but you need to follow up on it. Have some closure, you know? Being sorry isn't enough." The crew member returns her guitar to her. She puts the guitar strap on.

"This song can mean many different things. For me...it's about a joke that wasn't something I should've joked about." Bonnibel's face shoots up to look at Marceline. She's staring back, her face serious. "A joke that I took too far. And it's also…about how far I'm gonna go in order to fix it."

And just like that, the field bursts with music and Marceline's strong, clear voice.

"_**Whoa oh whoa oh whoa oh whoa oh  
I wanna be with you"**_

Bonnibel's eyes widen. Marceline flashes a smile at her.

_**"Whoa oh whoa oh whoa oh whoa oh  
I wanna be with you…"**_

The smile fades.

_**"It's all my fault today...  
**__**I'm sorry for the way I was to you  
**__**It's all so wrong, you see…  
**__**And I'm sorry for the words I say…  
**__**To you."**_

_But it's me who's sorry. I said all those terrible things to you._

_**"But if you ask me, I will go…  
Anything for you  
But if you ask me, I will go  
'Cause baby, I need you!**_

She closes her eyes.

"_**Whoa oh whoa oh whoa oh whoa oh  
I wanna be with you…**_

_**Whoa oh whoa oh whoa oh whoa oh  
I wanna see what you"**_

She opens them again. Her gaze is soft. Her cheeks are slightly red.

_**"See,  
See what you see in me…"**_

Bonnibel's eyes widen. Her mouth falls slightly agape. _Does she…know how I feel? And does she feel the same? _

_**"Am I on my own today?**__**  
All alone with nothing left to say?  
Can it all go back  
The way  
It used to be when you were here  
With me..."**_

_Me too, Marcy. I want us to be like we used to. _

_**"But if you ask me, I will go…  
Anything for you."**_

Bonnibel's eyes well up with tears.  
_No. I don't want you to go.  
Ever again. _

_**"But if you ask me, I will go  
'Cause baby, I need you."**_

Marceline almost chokes out the last part. Bonnibel slowly puts a hand over her mouth.

_I need you, too. _

_**"Whoa oh w****hoa oh whoa oh whoa oh****  
I wanna be with you!"**_

Bonnibel closes her eyes. A few tears spill out.  
_Oh, Marcy. _

_**"Whoa oh whoa oh whoa oh whoa oh  
I wanna see what you  
See...  
See what you see in me…"**_

She finishes the song in a soft voice.

For a moment, it's just the two of them. Bonnibel, with a hand over her mouth and tears running down her cheeks. Marceline, with teary eyes and a pained expression. They stay, frozen, staring at each other for several moments.

They both snap back to reality when the crowd explodes with cheering and clapping. Marceline composes herself and waits for the noise to die down a bit. She tears her gaze away from Bonnibel.

"Whoa! Thank you so much! You've been an awesome audience!"

"Thanks so much for listening," Marshall yells into his microphone, "We're The Scream Queens! Stay tuned for our next gig and enjoy the rest of Spring Fling!"

With another cheer, the crowd breaks up. The rest of the audience starts to rush away from the stage to get to the booths and stations first. The members of The Scream Queens, other than Marceline, head back behind the curtain. Marceline is handing a stage crew member the guitar.

"Bubblegum? You okay?" It's Finn.

"Bonnibel?" Bubba says, placing his hand on her shoulder.

She slowly gets up. She's looking straight at Marceline. As soon as Marceline sees her, she begins to run.

"Bonni?!" She hears Marceline call her name.

But she keeps on running.

And this time, Marceline runs after her.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Thank you for all the support. **

**Enjoy. **

* * *

"Bonni?!" Marceline yells after the running girl. She jumps off the stage and runs after her.

_Oh glob. Why is she running? She was crying…_

_Did she not like it? Maybe I screwed it all up again. _

Bonnibel is running through the field and past the courtyard, where the school grounds meet the woodsy area surrounding them. Marceline knows this area well. From the outside, it looks as if there is nothing but woods here. But if a person actually walks through these woods for a bit, they come across a large grassy clearing. There's even a small pond there. At this point, Bonnibel slows down and finally comes to a stop. Marceline stops about ten feet behind her.

"Why are you…" huffs Marceline, "Why'd you run? Did you hate it—"

"I just…" Bonnibel finally says, out of breath. "I wanted to be alone with you." _Oh. That makes sense. _

"I see… I didn't know anybody else knew about this place."

"A long time ago…I saw you walk through these woods. I followed you here once. You played the most beautiful music here. I watched you from afar." Bonnibel is still turned away from her. "And then last year, we finally met. I did everything I could to get close to you."

_That's right. You were always pushy when it came to helping me in chemistry. But the reason I always asked for help was the same reason you offered it. _

"I wanted to be close to you, too. At every chance I got." She says. She can see Bonnibel's shoulders shake.

"And we finally did get close. We became _best friends. _And then, a few days ago, I thought we'd become something more." She turns around, tears streaming down her face. In a flash, she throws herself into Marceline's arms. She clings onto the other girl, shaking and whimpering.

"I was…_so _happy. _So _happy, Marceline. For just that moment."

"Bonni, listen. I always wanted to do that. I was happy too! But I approached the whole thing the wrong way. I should've waited. I was so stupid. I'm so sor—"

"No! No, you're wrong. You shouldn't have to be the one who's sorry. It's me. I didn't _listen _to you." She buries her face into Marceline's neck. "I just assumed you were joking. I assumed it was a joke to _you_. I didn't take _your_ feelings into consideration. I didn't even think that your feelings were genuine." She sniffs. "I thought so little of you. We've been through so much together. How could I have thought that? How could I have said all those horrible things to you? Oh Marcy…"

"Shhh. It's okay, Bonni. Shhh. I've got you now. It's okay." Marceline holds her close for a little while, letting the other girl cry for a bit. She feels tears of her own springing up, but she holds them back. She needs to be strong for Bonnibel. She plants a few kisses on the top of her head, breathing in the scent of strawberries from her hair.

After Bonnibel calms down a bit, Marceline let's go of her for a second, and then scoops her up in her arms. The pink haired girl lets out a little yelp, but holds onto Marceline's neck as she walks over to a tree and leans down against it. She sits down, with Bonnibel on her lap.

"I…had a dream like this." Bonni says, smiling.

"Just like this?"

"Almost. We were here, though. In this place. I'm sure of it." Marceline brushes a few loose strands from the other girl's face and proceeds to stroke her hair with one hand. "You did something like that too!" Bonnibel giggles.

"Oh? What else did dream Marceline do?" She asks, slyly. "Something like…this?"

Bonnibel blushes as Marceline places her index finger and thumb on her chin. She tilts her face upwards, causing Bonnibel to close her eyes. She plants two kisses on the girls' cheeks. Marceline then rests her forehead against Bonnibel's for a moment before slowly pressing her lips against the other girl's. The kiss is soft and gentle this time, like evening rain. It lasts a few seconds.

Bonnibel can feel Marceline's gentle, cool breath against her lips when they finally part. She moves in for another, her heart drumming in her chest. This one lasts longer.

After they part from their third kiss, Bonnibel finally says, "Yes. Something like that." She then turns over in Marceline's lap, pushing the dark-haired girl down to the ground by the shoulders, against the grass. "But there was something more." She says, smiling at the shocked look on Marceline's face. She pins the other girl's wrists down, and leans down to her face. She kisses her gently at first, but then opens her mouth to let her tongue slide into the other girl's mouth. Marceline feels electricity run through her as she gives into Bonnibel's sudden aggression. They passionately kiss until they run out of breath.

"Geez Bonni," Marceline pants, looking to the side to her pinned-down wrists, "Didn't know you had that in you."

"Me neither," Bonnibel says, grinning. After a moment, she adds, "I learned it from the very best." She leans down for another.

* * *

Meanwhile….

"I wonder how Marceline and Bubblegum are doing?" Finn wonders out loud while shooting a basketball into the inflatable hoop.

"Don't worry about it, Finn." Fionna says behind her brother in line. "I bet they're making up as we speak."

"Making **up? **More like making **out! **Aw yeahh." Marshall says, high-fiving a very enthusiastic, nodding Jake. Finn and Fionna look at him, their faces flushed and inquisitive.

Gumball, standing right behind him, smacks him hard behind the head. "Don't be so distasteful!" Lady is not too far away, and so she proceeds to yell at Jake in Korean while he frantically apologizes.

"Ow, ow, oww. Geez. For a guy named 'Bubba Gumball,' you sure hit hard." Marshall says, turning around and holding the back of his head. "More like 'Bubba Jawbreaker'.

"There's more where that came from, if you'd rather have your jaw broken."

"Yeah, uh, no thanks. And, and besides," he says, his face reddening, "Kissing isn't distasteful." Gumball looks away, blushing as well.

* * *

When she finally pulls away for the second time, Bonnibel opens her eyes to meet her lovers'. Instead, she sees the other girl's face scrunched up and facing to the side. Marceline twitches, sneezing hard into the air. She gently gets out of Bonnibel's grasp to wipe her nose.

"Oh ew. Geez, sorry Bon. Looks like someone's talking about me—"

"Marceline! Sneezing is merely caused by nasal particles irritating the nasal mucosa. It has nothing to do with any kinds of supersti—" Bonnibel gets cut off by a hard sneeze of her own, which Marceline's face relieves a full blast of. She starts wiping away at her face in disgust.

"Ohhh gross, Bonni. You're lucky I'm in love with you or else—" She stops. Heat rises to her cheeks. _Did I just…confess that? _Bonnibel stares at her in awe, blushing as well. She wraps her arms around Marceline's waist and lies down on top of her, her head resting on the other girl's chest.

"Marcy? Did you really mean that?" She finally asks. It almost comes out as a whisper.

"Y-yeah. I meant it. I really feel that way."

"I love you, too." Bonnibel says. Marceline can feel her heart drum in her chest at these words. She places her hands on the other girl's back. She looks off into the clear, blue sky. A lone cloud drifts by.

"Wow. I'm beginning to wonder if this is a dream after all."

"It's not. Do you know why?"

"Why?"

"Because it's better than a dream." Bonnibel can hear the drumming get louder. "Marcy, your heartbeat is going so fast."

"It's because I'm so happy."

"Me too."

They lay like that for a while. Five minutes grew into ten. A cool breeze blew by, rustling leaves along the way. Bonnibel could feel Marceline's heartbeat grow calmer. Now that they were quiet, they could hear birds singing happily. The scent of jasmine was in the air.

"Bonni? We should really get going." Marceline finally says, breaking the silence.

"You're right." Bonnibel says, proceeding to lift herself off of the other girl. They both get up, dusting the grass off of Marceline's back and hair. When she's all clean, they hold hands and proceed to return to the soccer field.

"Marceline?" Bonni says as they're walking and the field is in view. "Are we going to tell everyone?"

"Oh. Right. Everyone else. I guess we should. Though it's like, I feel like they already know."

"Me too. But I'd feel better if we…make it official."

"Gotcha. Well don't you worry! We'll tell them together." Marceline says confidently.

It's not hard for the girls to find their friends. Finn and Jake are in a strange red and blue suit, stuck to the Velcro wall, whooping and laughing. Because they're so high up, the two boys are the first to spot them.

"Hey! Bubblegum! Marcy! You guys are back!" Finn yells out. The group collectively turns out to face the direction in which Finn is yelling. By the time the girls reach the group, Finn and Jake are finally back on the ground.

"You two are just in time for the BBQ!" Jake says.

"Yeah! We should go eat!" Finn agrees, as does the rest of the group.

After getting food, they all settle down around a large picnic blanket that Cake brought. Bubba brings in plates of baked goods that hadn't gotten sold and were no longer warm. Finn, Marshall Lee, and Jake pile their plates with so many hotdogs and hamburgers that the rest of the group begins to wonder if they're going to have some sort of contest. Marceline's plate mostly consists of fries smothered by a ridiculous amount of ketchup. Not realizing how hungry she was, she begins to scarf them down. Bonnibel rolls her eyes at the girl.

"You're going to choke on those."

"Showwy. I'm sho," she swallows, "hungry."

"I know, I know. But look at you." She says, picking up a napkin. She wipes it on Marceline's ketchup-stained mouth. "My little vampire." She giggles.

Everyone else sitting on the blanket freezes. Finn gives his corn on the cob one loud chomp. This signals for the rest of the group to go back to eating and chatting as they were.

When it looks like the group is almost finished eating, Fionna finally decides to ask the pair of girls.

"So…we're all gonna guess that you guys already made out?" She says with a nervous laugh. Marceline, who's drinking cherry-flavored mountain dew, proceeds to expel said drink through her nose while coughing. Fionna blushes deeply after realizing what she just said.

"No! Wait. I meant made **up**, not the other thing. Ugh," She slaps her hand to her forehead. "This is Marshall's fault."

"What?! …Actually, you know what?" The boy says, throwing his hands into the air. "I'll accept it. Everything's my fault!" He crosses his arms and then grumbles something like, "Even global warming."

"Calm down, Marsh. It's all right." Marceline says after snapping out of her coughing fit and cleaning herself up as much as possible. "Yes. We totally made up." She says, smiling at Bonnibel.

"As for the other thing," the pink haired girl says, "We also have something to tell everyone." She scoots closer to Marceline, who's starting to look a little uncomfortable. _Yeah, that's me. I can talk the talk but when it comes to walking the walk…_

"Uh, right. You see…me and Bonni, we're uhh…" She looks to her lover for support. Bonnibel leans closer to her. She looks into the faces of her friends, who're waiting for Marceline to go on. She looks back at Marceline and grins slyly before crushing her lips into those of the black-haired girl. It's a quick kiss that's over before they both know it. They look back at their friends.

"We're like that!" Bonnibel announces to them.

No one is shocked by that information, just by Bubblegum's willingness to participate in public displays of affection. After the moments of initial shock, the group begins to break out into smiles, laughter, and congratulatory comments. Marshall gives his sister a wide grin and a big thumbs-up. Gumball and Lady proceed to threaten Marceline's life in case she ever makes Bonnibel cry again.

Marceline takes Bonnibel by the hand and looks into the other girl's eyes, swearing that she will never be the one to cause those eyes to fill with tears ever again.

* * *

**-**Somewhat of an Epilogue-

Flame Princess looks from Bubblegum to Marceline_. _She always found that although she couldn't help but be jealous of the pink-haired girl, she also looked up to her. The girl was beautiful, incredibly smart, and now, as Flame Princess just recently witnessed, aggressive when it came to getting what she wanted. _Well. This worked for them; maybe it'll work for me. _

"Hey, Finn?" She says rather loudly, looking at the blonde boy. Some of the members of their friend group also look over, wondering what Flame Princess has to say.

"Yeah, FP?"

She takes this chance to grab the boy by the collar and push his lips on to hers. Finn's arms flail about until they finally come to settle down on the girl's shoulders. Jake starts clapping, which escalates quickly until everyone there cheers. When the two finally part, they blush and look away from each other.

Meanwhile, Marshall Lee looks from Bubblegum and Marceline to Finn and Flame Princess. _Wow. That method really works! I wonder if…_

"Hey Gumball?" He says rather intimately.

"What, Marshall?"

The paler boy closes his eyes and begins to lean in. Instead of a kiss, he receives a full-on punch to the nose and mouth.

"Never! Y-you predator. Gumball says, blushing and crossing his arms.

As he holds his nose in pain and Fionna fusses over whether it's bleeding or not, Marshall can swear that he heard the blushing pink-haired boy whisper something like, "At least…not right now."

* * *

**A/N: Anddd here it is. The conclusion! I hope it was the kind of conclusion you guys wanted. The epilogue thing is thrown in there for fun! Tsundere Gumball, heh. **

**Anyway, I'd like to thank all my readers for supporting me. I'll think about writing further, maybe snippets from this universe or a brand new story. I start school in a few days, so I won't have as much time. But I'll try! So look out for that. **


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